The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-07-30
Compiled Jor The Arkonsatc TrdueIer. SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Unusually low water in Lake Con- stance has been bringing to light ma- ny valuable and interesting relics of the prehistoric lake-dwellers.
 An African arrow poison, Stroph- anthus, proves to be powerful tonic in diseases of the heart, and the pre- diction is made that it will supersede digitalis. Its properties were first brought to notice by Prof. Fraser, of Edinburgh University.
 The nutritive value of mushrooms has been investigated in Germany by C. T. Moerner, who shows that to get an equivalent of an average hen's-egg a person must eat ten and half ounces of Agdrtcus conpeStriS, or no less than four pounds Polypo,Ws octnus; and that nine pounds of the former varie- ty or sixty-seven pounds of the latter would be needed to equal the pound of beef
 A late observer, Mir. E.. Sandford, reports having made common snail carry load of two and a quarter ounces up a perpendicular wall, its own weight being but quarter of an ounce. A snail weighing a third of an ounce drew load of seventeen ounces on a horizontal table, and SUD- ported four ounces while crawling on the ceiling. It even climbed thread with another snail on its back.
 Though the American Association for the Advancement of Science has honored several comparatively small cities with two or three visits each, it is surprising fact that not one of the thirty-tive annual meetings of this national scientific body has been held in New York City, which has so won- derfully protited by the achievements of applied science. This year, how ever, the metropolis will entertain the association during the week commence ing Aug. 10.
 Among the many masses of meteor ic iron which have been described, on- ly nine. according to Prof. w. E. Hidden, have been seen to fall, the places and dates being Agram, Croa- tia, May 56, l751 Charlotte, Tenn, Aug. 1, 1885; Brauman, Bohemia, July, 14, 1S47; Tabarz, Saxony, Oct, IS, 1854; Victoria West, Africa, in 1862; Nejed, Arabia, spring Of 1865; Nedagolla, India, Jan. 23, 1870 Row ton, Shropshire, Eng, Apr 20, 1876; Mazapil, Mexico, Nov. P, 1885.
 SEARCH FOR THE SOUTH PoLE-The increasing difficulty of adding to the | vUnrlH3c cf0nlv Nf oc Arctic regions is turning the atten- tion of explorers to the more distant but tresher fields for research lying about the South Pole. An Antarctic expedition is now being fited out by Baron Nordenskiold, and is expected to leave Sweden in the autumn for an absence of eighteen months; while it is probable that during the next few years several other expeditions will be attracted to the unknown seas of the Southern Hemisphere.
 PRUssIAN LoNGEvITY.-The occur ence of the German emperor's nineti- eth birthday has led to the publica- tion in Berlin of list of all the known persons Ill the Prussian king dom who are older than the sovereign. At the taking of the census of Dec. 1, 1885, there was one man of 120 years, another of 11S, woman of 117, an- other of 115, and a total of 16O per- sons above the age of 100. Between the ages of 90 and 100 there were 1879 males and 2S65 females. An astonish- ingly large proportion of the very aged was found in the province of Silesia, which seems to be exception ally favorable to long life.
 A CURIOUS PLANT EFFECT.-The leaves of a climbing plant of India. GymnemG Sylcestre, have lately been discovered to possess the peculiar property of destroying the tongues power to appreciate sweets and bit ters, causing quinine and sugar to taste like chalk and sand. The taste of pungent and saline substances. as- tringents and acids, is not affected. The taste of the leaves themselves is bitterish, astringent and slightly acid, and their effect lasts for an hour or two after they have been chewed. In experiments in Italy it has been shown that various drugs affect what seem to be different sets of taste- nerves, but this plant appears to give more remarkable results than cocoa inc, morphia, or other substance tried.
 BURDENS OF CRABs.-As crabs ap- proach old age and no longer increase in size, their shells, w,lich in youth were shed frequently to accommodate growth of body, are often retained several years, and the creatures become liable to fall victims to the strangest sort ot parasitism. Barnacles and all sorts of marine growths collect upon the shell, and in many cases almost completely hide the crab. A remark able example of this may be seen in the RrlfiRh Musounn rrho.. l.. |